War had a striking effect on the shinobi world that no one could have predicted; time became obsolete. How long had it been since the war began? How long until it was over? All questions frustratingly unanswered, all hope growing dimmer by the day. Along with time, other things were running out; the Golden Kazekage wondered how many more words of encouragement he could offer his forces when they faced the death o their friends, families, children, every day. He watched as hot tears streamed down soldiers faces as they screamed in frustration and hopelessness over their comrades cold bodies.
Bringing a fist down on the round table in front of him, Gaara caused a crack right across the middle of the solid marble table. He slumped into his chair and gritted his teeth as, without any conscious command from him, a sparkling cloud rose out of his gourd that leant against a pillar in the corner of the room. It landed softly on the table and moved like water across the intricate, ornate paintings of the shinobi lands that spread across the marble. Between the figurines that stood for shinobi and enemies.
Gaara watched absentmindedly as the sand, glittering in the light that streamed in between the clouds behind him, seeped into the crack he had created. It solidified int he crack, mending the table but unable to put it back together. It looked like kintsugi, except instead of gold it was grey and cold. A new technique Gaara had mastered but it was clearly not as impressive as gold when it came to repairing objects.
A cold wind blew in from the windows as the door to the room opened. It was far too cold here up in the clouds. The Village Hidden By Clouds had stolen Gaara's heart; lush in greenery, the soun of running water everywhere, the almost heaven-like horizon. But, all beautiful things came at a cost; the place was cold to the bone, the Kazekage, raised in the dessert, was still getting used to it.
He looked up as his elder brother walked through the door. Gaara blew his now long hair from in front of his eyes, making it flop up onto his head in an uncharacteristically tidy manner. He sat up straight, back into his Kazekage-pose and nodded at his brother. No pleasantries were exchanged; another thing war had done away with.
"Any news?" Gaara asked and although he tried to hide the urgency in his voice, Kankuro knew exactly what he was talking about. Kankuro's purple lines on his face were getting hard to see as the wrinkles of his frown were beginning to become permanently etched into his skin. With a grim grunt that signalled his answer was "no", the puppeteer unfolded a scroll and rolled it out in front of Gaara to assess. Kankuro had been put in charge of reconnaissance missions for the Shinobi Alliance. While he had reported on just about everything the enemy was up to,one part of their forces was yet to make an appearance.
"Nothing unusual; we have 24 hour surveillance of the Marble Palace. She doesn't go in or out, scrolls are snuck in, as well as other things she needs to write summoning scrolls-"
"How do you know that if they are sneaking in?" Gaara interrupted.
"Sometimes we see them but they are gone in an instance, they are by skilled-"
"When have you seen these deliveries take place?" Kankuro, who had taken liberty of his little bother's contemplative silence and was ready for his own monologue, stumbled over his words.
"In the last week." The purple paint on Kanuro's face was completely obscured now by a frown that almost contorted her face.
"The last week…" Gaara muttered to himself. "And you can't catch them?" Kankuro shook his head.
"They're there one second and gone the next moment." As he answered Gaara let out an exasperated sigh and pinched his nose, closing his eyes, taking a moment to reign in his temper at his brother's stupidity as he figured out what was going on in a second.
"They are shadow clones," the Kazekage tried to keep of his voice at a reasonable volume. Kankuro almost fell over in surprise- why the hell hadn't he thought of that!?
"But why would she-"
"She's not at the Palace!" Finally Gaara lost his temper and stood up to scold his brother. "It's a distraction-!" Kankuro's eyes seemed to dart around the room, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The kazekage's breath quickened; Ai had been unseen since they had last spoken, since before the beginning of the war. "She's getting ready to join the battle." Bashfully, Kankuro asked quietly:
"When? Where do you think?" He blinked as the sunlight burst through the clouds and lit up his face as though a spotlight with a malicious sense of humour were making sure everyone could see the incompetent shinobi.
Gaara's eyes scanned the map on the table, noting were his men were heading. His eyes fell onto a familiar place and Gaara almost let out a laugh at her spiteful games.
"Here," Gaara pointed to a beach where groups of his troops were headed." Kankuro twisted his head a little to take in the beach.
"Why there?" Gaara had to laugh as Kankuro asked his question slowly. With a sick smile Gaara answered:
"Because it is where we first kissed."